Employment opportunities for young people toughest for 18 years - Turn2us

The
latest UK unemployment figures will be published today as the
Trade Union Congress (TUC) warns that the job
outlook for the young is at its toughest for 18 years.

In an analysis of employment and education trends over the
last 20 years, the TUC has found that:

The proportion of young people neither working nor studying
full time in 2012 remains close to record levels at 20.4% - the
highest level since October 1994

22% of 16-24 year od are currently unemployed compared to 16%
in 1992

The proportion of young people in full-time education has
nearly doubled from 24% in 1992 to 41% in 2012

Employment and education participation rates started to improve
after 1994 and continued to rise until around the summer of 2001
when over 85% of young people were either working or
studying. However, young people's chances then started to
slowly decline and then deteriorated sharply as the UK entered
recession in 2008. They have been at crisis levels ever since
because of falling employment rates.

With 488,000 16-24 year olds currently out of work for at
least six months - a figure that is rising even as overall
unemployment falls - the TUC says that the country risks losing a
generation of young people to unemployment and under-achievement
before their careers have even begun. It is calling on the
government to do more to tackle our youth jobs crisis by
introducing a guarantee of training or paid employment for any
young person out of work for at least six months, and a new youth
credit to provide additional training and job seeking support.

Comment from TUC General Secretary

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Students looking to
start their careers or continue in their education next month are
facing the toughest climate for nearly 20 years.

'It's particularly worrying that long-term joblessness for young
people is still rising, even as overall unemployment falls. If this
continues we could lose a generation of talented and highly
qualified youngsters to blighted careers, debt and
under-achievement.

'Ministers should be doing everything they can to help young
people but so far all they've done is cut vital financial support
for college students and price people out of university. Jobs
support has been scrapped, scaled back and then reinstated on the
cheap. This is no sensible way to help young people into work or
education.

'The government's economic strategy is holding young people
back. It's time for a new plan that invests in their futures,
rather than stunting careers before they've barely
begun.'